Fiber optic peripheral equipment for cable management, cable storage, and connection capabilities are well known. Typically, this cable management, storage and connection is facilitated in bays that comprise a plurality of stacked shelves in which fiber optic crossconnect panels are installed. Within each panel is a plurality of stations that are adapted to receive crossconnect modules that facilitate the various optical fiber connections. Each module normally comprises a plurality of "patch throughs" that merely consist of a plurality of connectors installed in a panel that are used to connect two optical fiber connectors so that the pieces of equipment connected to these fibers can transmit and receive signals to and from each other. Several such connections may be made between a transmitter, e.g. a core network, of the signal and the receiver, e.g. a customer premise.
With the multiplicity of fiber optical connections made along any given transmission path, several transmission problems can arise. One problem involves locating a fault point in situations where transmission losses are occurring. For example, if a customer notifies a signal provider that a signal being transmitted to the customer is not arriving or is being corrupted in some manner, the provider normally must determine where along the transmission path the problem is arising. This typically requires checking the output of each connection point along the transmission path to ensure that an uncorrupted signal is being sent from each connection point. In this manner, the problem area along the transmission path can be isolated and the problem remedied.
Separate monitoring devices are usually used to evaluate the output signals to check their integrity. To conduct such an evaluation, the circuit in which the signal is being transmitted normally must be interrupted and several jumper cables attached between the connection point and the monitoring device. At this point, a diagnostic test can be performed to judge transmission performance. Although effective in identifying the problem area, this method is disruptive because the customer's signal must first be interrupted when connecting the device. In addition, this method creates difficulty in that, due to the several jumper connections presently required, it is easy for the technician to confuse the various jumpers and connectors and, therefore, make an erroneous assessment of the transmission performance based upon the wrong signal. Moreover, the customer often must incur additional expense to provide for additional equipment space (e.g., panel space or floor space) for the devices used to check the signals.
From the foregoing, it can be appreciated that it would be desirable to have a monitoring point that is integrated into transmission circuits so that signal interruption and technician confusion can be avoided. Furthermore, it would be desirable to have such a monitoring point integrated into crossconnect panels so that no fiber optic density is lost through the provision of the monitoring point.